South Koreans have immediately grow to be a 12 months or two youthful.
It follows new legal guidelines requiring the usage of the internationally recognised means of counting age taking impact on Wednesday.
It replaces one of many nation's two conventional strategies, the place persons are deemed to be a 12 months outdated at start - making an allowance for time spent within the womb.
The "Korean age" system additionally sees folks ageing up by a 12 months on 1 January yearly, as a substitute of on their precise start date.
It means somebody born on New Year's Eve would flip two years outdated on New Year's Day.
The different conventional technique - or "counting age" - considers an individual zero at start however their age goes up a 12 months each 1 January.
This technique means somebody born on New Year's Eve would flip one on New Year's Day.
The "counting age" technique will nonetheless stay in place with many legal guidelines nonetheless utilizing it - as an example, folks in South Korea should purchase alcohol from the 12 months - and never the day - they flip 19.
Nonetheless, the regulation change may imply that South Koreans have years knocked off their ages on official paperwork.
'It's simply nice to really feel like getting youthful'
Since the early Nineteen Sixties, the nation has used the worldwide norm of calculating from zero at start and including a 12 months on each birthday for medical and authorized paperwork.
But many South Koreans continued to make use of the normal technique for every little thing else.
In a briefing on Monday, minister of presidency laws Lee Wan-kyu mentioned: "We expect legal disputes, complaints and social confusion that have been caused over how to calculate ages will be greatly reduced."
A authorities survey which was performed in September final 12 months revealed that 86% of South Koreans mentioned they might use the worldwide age system of their on a regular basis life when the brand new legal guidelines takes impact.
"I was about to turn 30 next year [under the traditional Korean age system], but now I have some more time earned, and I love it," Choi Hyun-ji, a 27-year-old workplace employee in Seoul, instructed the Reuters News company.
"It's just great to feel like getting younger," Mr Choi added.
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What's my Korean age?
According to 90 Day Korean - a web site on the Korean language and tradition - there's a easy option to get that reply.
One of the methods you are able to do that is by including one 12 months to the present 12 months after which subtracting that out of your 12 months of start.
For instance, 2023 +1 - 1997 = 27 years of age.
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